F1 cult hero returns to drive more than 10 years since last appearance
More than a decade after he last sat in a Formula 1 cockpit, Kamui Kobayashi has relived the experience by taking part in an official team test. Haas have given the Japanese former F1 star a chance to drive one of their racing machines.
It marks the first time Kobayashi has driven an F1 car since he last raced in the World Championship in 2014. That was with minnows Caterham, though he previously also represented Toyota and Sauber having begun his career with the former in 2009.
But, on Thursday, the 38-year-old got to relive the experience. He took part in a Testing of Previous Cars (TPC) event with Haas, driving the VF-23 car that the American team fielded in the 2023 F1 season.
Haas posted photos of Kobayashi behind the wheel in the garage before heading out on track at the Circuit Paul Ricard, near Marseille in the south of France. The test was arranged in partnership with Toyota Gazoo Racing, Haas' technical partner since the Japanese carmaker's return to F1 last October.
Sign up to our free weekly F1 newsletter, Pit Lane Chronicle, by entering your email address below so that every new edition lands straight in your inbox!
Though Toyota has not competed in F1 since quitting the sport in 2009, its Gazoo Racing division has been highly successful in other motorsport categories including rallying and endurance competitions. Kobayashi has played a key role in the latter success in recent years, as a two-time winner of the World Endurance Championship and a victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2021.
His achievements in endurance racing far outstrip what he was ever able to do during his time on the F1 grid. Having represented largely uncompetitive teams, he managed just one podium finish for Sauber at the 2012 Japanese Grand Prix, his home race, where he finished third by impressively holding off Jenson Button in the faster McLaren.
Despite that achievement, Kobayashi lost his place on the grid at the end of that 2012 season. He returned with cash-strapped Caterham in 2014, after a year in the World Endurance Championship (WEC), but they were entirely uncompetitive and folded ahead of the 2015 campaign.
Kobayashi returned to WEC in 2016 with Toyota and was immediately competitive. Alongside a range of different team-mates over eight seasons, he has finished outside the top three in the championship only once, when he was fifth in 2017, winning the title twice in 2020 and 2021.
Since 2021, he has also been team principal of Toyota Gazoo Racing's WEC programme, alongside his duties as a driver. His F1 test on Thursday was the second run by Haas this year, the first having taken place in Jerez, Spain, in January.
Behind the wheel were 2025 F1 drivers Esteban Ocon and Oliver Bearman, as well as Toyota Gazoo Racing development driver and Formula 2 racer Ritomo Miyata. Another TGR figure involved at Haas these days is Ryo Hirakawa, who joined from Alpine as a reserve and has driven for the team in first practice at the Bahrain and Spanish Grands Prix.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mirror
9 minutes ago
- Daily Mirror
Lewis Hamilton shows true colours as approach to struggling F1 rival spotted on live TV
Ferrari star Lewis Hamilton endured a difficult weekend at the Belgian Grand Prix but still took the time to offer consolation to another of his Formula 1 rivals who was also struggling Lewis Hamilton offered consolation to teenager Kimi Antonelli who continues to struggle in his debut Formula 1 season. The teenager began the year strongly but, since entering the European portion of the season, has looked a little lost and has struggled for form. Antonelli has failed to score across any of the six race weekends held in Europe so far this year, and failed to finish four of them. The other two saw the 18-year-old finish 18th in Monaco and, on Sunday, 16th at the end of a torrid Belgian Grand Prix weekend. Strangely, in the middle of those European races, Antonelli produced his best performance in F1 to date to secure his first podium, finishing third at the Canadian Grand Prix. But at Spa-Francorchamps after qualifying he was close to tears as he lamented his struggles. "Since the European season, I've been struggling to find confidence with the car," the teenager said. "I feel like I've done a backwards step. It's just a difficult moment for me – I feel like I have no confidence on pushing. Yesterday, I tried to push a bit too much and then I spun, and it kind of hurts the confidence even more. "We know the limitation we have since quite a lot, but with the way I'm driving, I'm just increasing the problem, and that gives me even less confidence with the car." Things did not get any better on Sunday as Antonelli struggled to make progress, having started from the pit lane with new engine components. Not only was he 16th at the end, but he was 14 seconds away from 10th place, the lowest points-paying position. In contrast, Hamilton had also started from the pit lane and found much more joy in his Ferrari, speeding up to finish seventh and 46 seconds up the road from the teenager who replaced him at Mercedes. But instead of celebrating his strong performance, the first thing the seven-time F1 champion did was approach Antonelli in parc ferme. It is not know what was said between them, but Hamilton could be seen offering consolation to the teenager. At 40 years old, the Brit is more than twice Antonelli's age and is driving for a direct rival team in Ferrari, but has spent time on several occasions offering his wisdom and experience to the struggling young Italian. Speaking about the youngster's struggles after the Belgium race, Hamilton said: "I can't imagine what it's like at 18, I can try to imagine what it's like at 18 to do what he's been doing. I think he's been doing fantastic, but to be thrown into the deep end at 18... he didn't even have his [road] driving licence when he started racing! "I think it's a lot on young shoulders, but he's doing a great job. He's got a great group of people around him, so I think he's just got to take it in his stride, which I think he is. "He's got Bono [Hamilton's old Mercedes race engineer Peter Bonnington] by his side – he couldn't have anyone better."
The Independent
12 minutes ago
- The Independent
Hamilton agrees with Verstappen that Belgian GP should not have been delayed
Lewis Hamilton said he agreed with Max Verstappen that the start of the Belgian Grand Prix should not have been suspended. Verstappen branded race director Rui Marques' move to bring out the red flag after a single formation lap in the rain at Spa-Francorchamps as 'silly' and 'way too cautious'. Following a delay of one hour and 20 minutes – which the FIA said was due to 'poor visibility' – the race eventually got under way, albeit in a rolling start after four laps behind the safety car. Hamilton was able to switch from intermediates to dry tyres after just seven racing laps. And when it was put to Hamilton, who made up 11 places to finish seventh, that Verstappen claimed the race should have started immediately, he replied: 'I would agree. My car was set up for that, and they waited for it to dry. Especially at the end. It was a dry line with hardly any spray.' There have been 49 driver/rider fatalities at Spa-Francorchamps in the last 100 years – most recently Dutch 18-year-old Dilano Van 't Hoff in 2023, and Frenchman Anthonie Hubert in a Formula Two race four years previously. The last Formula One race at Silverstone also took place in wet conditions, and Hamilton, 40, continued: 'It was just a reaction to Silverstone. 'We sat down and spoke about it after Silverstone. Lots of drivers in the last race said we shouldn't have restarted, because of a lack of visibility. And as soon as someone up ahead said, 'visibility is pretty bad' which, it wasn't great but it wasn't as bad as the last race, they just decided to wait. 'They still did a good job. Of course we did miss some of the extreme wet weather racing, which would have been nice. But for some reason the spray here is like a fog.' In 2021, the rain-hit race was abandoned after just two laps behind the safety car. Defending the decision to delay the start of Sunday's event, Hamilton's Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc said: 'On a track like this you cannot forget about the history and what has happened in the past so I would rather be safe than go early.' Oscar Piastri, who won in Belgium to extend his championship lead over Lando Norris to 16 points, continued: 'We have given the FIA feedback that we would much rather be on the safe side. 'If you were being picky you might say we could have done one fewer lap behind the safety car but is the risk worth it? 'The first time we tried to start the race, with only Lando ahead, I couldn't see a thing, so you can imagine what it is like for the guys at the back.'
North Wales Chronicle
12 minutes ago
- North Wales Chronicle
Oscar Piastri ‘deserved' Belgian Grand Prix win, admits team-mate Lando Norris
The start of the 13th round in Spa-Francorchamps was delayed by one hour and 20 minutes due to heavy rain in the Ardennes. But when it eventually got under way – following four precautionary laps behind the safety car – Norris was found wanting when a sloppy exit at the opening La Source corner provided Piastri with a race-winning opportunity too good to turn down. OSCAR MAKES IT SIX GRAND PRIX VICTORIES THIS SEASON! 🏆#McLaren | #BelgianGP 🇧🇪 — McLaren (@McLarenF1) July 27, 2025 Despite being in Norris' spray, Piastri held his nerve and kept his foot on the accelerator at 170mph up through Eau Rouge and into Raidillon before jinking to his left and sailing clear of his McLaren team-mate on the Kemmel Straight. It was brave and superb in equal measure from Piastri but one Norris will be disappointed after seeing the his rival's championship advantage increase from nine points to 16 ahead of the final round before the summer break in Hungary next weekend. 'Oscar just did a good job, and there is nothing more to say,' said Norris. 'He committed a bit more through Eau Rouge and had the slipstream and got the run so I cannot complain. 'He did a better job at the beginning and there was nothing more I could do after that point. I would have loved to have been on top but Oscar deserved it today. And I will review my things.' At one point, there were fears the race – initially pencilled in for a start time of 3pm locally – could be abandoned after it was suspended following the formation lap due to poor visibility. Max Verstappen described the decision as 'silly' and 'too cautious'. However, there have been 49 fatalities at this track in the last 100 years – most recently Dutch 18-year-old Dilano Van 't Hoff in 2023. And race director Rui Marques could be excused for taking that grizzly statistic into his consideration. The drivers returned to their respective garages, and as the rain lashed down, memories were cast back to the event in 2021 – one which was abandoned after only two laps behind the safety car. But the grey skies parted, the sun broke through, and at 4.20pm, pole-sitter Norris emerged on track, albeit behind the safety car, to huge cheers from the record-breaking crowd. With visibility quickly improving, the safety car peeled in after four laps, and Norris bunched up the pack before attempting to put distance between himself and Piastri. The advantage was in Norris' hands with Piastri having to navigate his team-mate's rain-lashed spray. But a scrappy exit at La Source from the Briton provided Piastri with the momentum and he soared past Norris and into the lead. Piastri was 1.5 seconds quicker than Norris on the first racing lap leaving the Englishman – who arrived here hoping to claim a hat-trick of wins – facing a mammoth task. Oscar enjoyed that one 💪#F1 #BelgianGP — Formula 1 (@F1) July 27, 2025 'I knew lap one would be my best chance of winning the race,' said Piastri after he claimed his sixth win of the season so far, two more than Norris. 'I got a good exit from the first corner and lifted as little as I dared through Eau Rouge and it was enough. 'I was disappointed it was a rolling start because I thought that would take away some opportunity. But when I was that close, I knew I was going to lift a little bit less than Lando did, and then try and keep it on the track. It was lively up the hill but I managed to make it stick. 'When I watched the onboard replay back it didn't look as scary as it felt in the car but I knew I had to be committed to pull it off.'
